Declaring the system is rigged hours after FBI Director James Comey announced that it will not recommend charges against presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over her handling of classified information on her private email server, GOP nominee Donald Trump slammed the FBI’s decision during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“I’ll tell you that we have a rigged system folks” Trump said. “General Petraeus got in trouble for far less. Very, very unfair!”

During his hour long rally to a crowd of 3,000 gathered in Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Trump focused most his remarks on criticizing the recent headlines centering Hillary email controversy and the news of the FBI decision.

“[Hillary] can’t keep her email safe, and you know what folks, she sure as hell can’t keep our country safe,” Trump said. “She is laughing at the stupidity of our system. She is laughing and so is her husband, Bill, laughing at what’s going on because they’ve been there before.”

Trump went on to suggest that Hillary bribed Attorney General Loretta Lynch after it was reported that if elected president, the former Secretary of State will keep Lynch as AG in her administration.

“So Hillary said today, which I actually found it hard to believe that she’d said this that we may consider the attorney general to go forward,” Trump said. “That’s like a bribe, isn’t it? Isn’t it sort of a bribe? I think it’s a bribe.”

Trump added, “I mean, the attorney general is sitting there saying, you know if I get Hillary off the hook, I’m going to have four more years or eight more years, but if she loses, I’m out of a job. It’s a bribe! It’s a disgrace!”

He also mentioned the recent airport meeting Hillary’s husband Bill Clinton had last week might have played a role in the FBI decision to not recommend charges. The news of the impromptu private meeting was reported by a journalist who asked about the meeting during a news conference at the Phoenix Police Department. Confirming that the meeting did occur, Lynch denied that both spoke about the ongoing FBI investigation of Hillary’s use of a private email server while leading the State Department and the 30-minute meeting was a social discussion about family and golf.

“What you witnessed today and over the last week, from Bill Clinton going to the plane, just happened to be there at the airport,” Trump said. “I wonder how long he waited to go to the plane and then to have what happened today where essentially I thought everybody thought based on what was being said that she was guilty and it turned out, they were not going to press charges. It’s just really amazing.”

On President Obama campaigning with Hillary earlier in North Carolina, Trump lambasted the president for campaigning instead of doing his job as president. “We have a president who is out campaigning for ‘Crooked Hillary Clinton’ and he should be home working on ISIS where things are getting worse and worse,” Trump stated. “It’s like a carnival act… he knew that the FBI was going to do this because it would have been very uncomfortable for him to campaign with Hillary if they didn’t take a pass on Crooked Hillary.”

“So they take a pass, they announce they’re not going to press charges, lo and behold, a few hours later, let’s have a press conference, let’s do a speech together,” Trump added.

As for Hillary’s Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, Trump said the biggest loser out of today’s FBI’s decision was the Vermont Senator because an indictment would pave a way for him to claim the nomination.

“Bernie was waiting for the FBI primary and he lost today,” Trump said. “He lost the FBI primary! I feel so bad for Bernie.”

“But a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters are going to vote for Trump,” he added.

Using FBI director James Comey’s explicit criticism of Hillary’s mishandling of classified information, calling it “extremely careless,” Trump invoked the potentially damaging words to continue his attacks on Hillary.

“[Comey] talked about extremely careless and she was extremely careless,” Trump said. “That’s a tremendous word.

“She went through extraordinary lengths to carry out an Enron style purge of her emails,” Trump added.

However, Trump would also criticize the FBI decision.

“It’s a tragedy. Because we’re a country of law. We’re a country of order,” Trump said. “Stupidity is not a reason that you’re going to be innocent.”

About the Author

Mona Salama is a PolitiChicks political reporter based in New York City covering politics and NYPD. She reports broadly on the 2016 campaign trail from the road and at home.
Prior to joining PolitiChicks, Mona started with Wayne Dupree's WAAR where she covered NY politics, 2014 mid-term elections, and the NYPD.
In 2015, DC Gazette considers Mona as one of the 20 rising Conservative stars. She was cited as "generally one of the most stunning women in political commentary with a huge future ahead of her, we’re pretty sure Mona Salama will soon easily be the next Andrea Tantaros and a common conservative household name."
Currently she is finishing her Masters, all while at the same time covering the 2016 Presidential race, in Public Policy at John Jay College in New York City.
Mona can be followed on twitter at @MonaSalama_ and email: [email protected]

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